As a manager, nothing will impact your team and their performance more than communication.

How often you communicate with your staff and the techniques you use to reinforce the message are, therefore, critical.

With such an array of communication tools to choose from, including face-to-face communication, email, texting, phone calls, social media, and more, how do you get it right?  

A Strategy for Effective Communication: The 3-Email Rule 

Email is not instant messaging and, thus, not an alert platform. It was designed with the purpose that one person conveys their message, and the recipient replies to it whenever they have a chance. If you have a back-and-forth with a team member that involves more than three emails, it is time to switch to a more personal means of communication – the phone. 

The 3-email rule suggests that if you cannot complete a conversation within three emails, then it should be transferred to a more personal platform where the questions can be effectively answered, and the confusion can be successfully eliminated. We may think that email is fast, but it may not necessarily be effective. 

As a manager, enforce the 3-email rule to save time and deliver messages across your team quickly and effectively. While on call, ask questions and seek confirmation of the employee’s understanding, so there is no room for error.

Implementing the 3-email rule will also prevent team members from unnecessarily prolonging the conversation. This helps keep the communication short, simple, and to the point. 

You can make exceptions to the 3-email rule depending on the situation and conversation. However, it's good to pick up the phone and call if the same question is being asked a third time or if the conversation is stretching. 

The Importance of Phone Communication

Email is a quick and professional tool that can help you communicate with on-site and remote workers. However, during a busy day, it can be difficult for team members to filter out which emails contain essential information and which can wait. 

Other times, emails fail to have the desired impact on employees since they lack the tone of urgency, body language, and precise expectations. 

As it is, most of us struggle with a short attention span, which can make it difficult to comb through multiple messages per day and weed out the irrelevant ones from the relevant ones. Telephone communication not only acts as an effective reminder but also offers a more precise message. Team members can determine the situation's urgency by listening to your tone. Plus, it eliminates room for error since questions can be asked in real-time. 

Summing Up

Emails are an excellent way to communicate day-to-day messages among team members. However, when email conversations become repetitive or longer than anticipated, it is best to pick up the phone and call. This helps answer questions effectively, eliminates confusion, and allows the recipient to better judge the sender’s tone.